UConn-Temple Always A Close Battle

Owls Have Dropped Two Heartbreakers

PHILADELPHIA — — The Temple Owls surely must feel like they haven't gotten a fair shake when it comes to playing UConn, having lost heartbreakers in the past two meetings.

"None of those games matter," Temple coach Al Golden said. "Maybe they're storylines for you guys [in the media] or sound bites or something but for us that hasn't even entered our building. We're a different team, they're a different team."

Buying what he's selling?

Make no mistake, the Owls truly feel they were robbed in 2007 when an apparent catch in the back of the end zone on fourth down was ruled incomplete, securing a controversial 22-17 UConn win at Rentschler Field.

In 2008, remnants of Hurricane Hanna hit the East Coast the weekend of the game and the Huskies used their ground-and-pound style with Donald Brown carrying them to a 12-9 win after the Owls had taken a 9-6 lead in overtime. In the days leading up to that game there was ample talk of revenge.

The Huskies (1-1) expect a great effort from Temple (2-0) Saturday when the teams play a non-conference game at Lincoln Financial Field. The Owls are off to their best start since 1981, an indication of how long the program has been down. Now in his fifth season, Golden is making a difference.

The unfavorable outcomes against UConn have been part of the Owls' building process.

"I think they've been waiting for this game since the last time we played them," UConn captain and senior fullback Anthony Sherman said. "They have the right to be [pumped]. We beat them twice, close games that could have went either way, one play here, one play there, but it's one of those things where we have to worry about ourselves this week. We have to prepare the right way, know our schemes and execute, and we'll be all right."

If the Huskies fail in Philadelphia today a defeat would be more troubling than the loss at Michigan for the simple fact the Huskies had a lot of issues in the season opener, focused on them in Week 2 against Texas Southern and appeared to play with a sense of urgency.

"I really feel like the way you prepare at practice during the week makes the difference in how you play," senior guard Zach Hurd said. "Temple is a good team. We really have to move forward. We're two games down and 10 more to go. That's it. So we have to have a sense of urgency this week and each week and to keep getting those wins."

If the Huskies don't do that against Temple, they could find themselves in yet another tight battle.

"They've got a pretty talented team," senior defensive tackle Kendall Reyes said. "I don't see us taking them lightly at all. We know what we want to accomplish, but we know it's going to be a challenge."

Temple is the first of the Huskies' three remaining non-conference games (Buffalo, Vanderbilt) before heading into Big East play. The Owls lead the series 7-4 but have not won since a 38-24 victory under Bobby Wallace in 2002.

"We're expecting to get their best game and we know that," said UConn coach Randy Edsall, 3-2 against Temple and 2-0 against Golden. "We have to make sure that we do the things we feel are necessary to win the game and work on our things that are strengths for us."